NEWSCAGE FREE CHICKENS

Back in the day when the real Bob Evans was around, he and his wife, Jewell, raised their six kids in a large, brick farmhouse that they affectionately called "Homestead." It was here that the family opened a sausage shop in their front yard and later went on to open the first Bob Evans Restaurant and General Store.

This story, along with snapshots of the original farmhouse, are the pictures that the Bob Evans restaurant chain paints for you when you visit the company's Web site. The company even boasts that by eating at its establishments, you can "discover farm-fresh goodness."

So you may be shocked to learn that the eggs Bob Evans uses in its food come from hens who don't roam freely on a farm. Rather, the chain sources its eggs from hens that are crammed inside teeny cages, forced to live their lives in a space no bigger than an 8x10 sheet of notebook paper.

Sustainable foodies know that the benefits of raising backyard chickens are many. Fresh eggs for your omelet? That's just scratching the surface. Chickens eat up insects, including ticks (so there's less need for harmful chemical pesticides), provide fertilizer, and gobble up table scraps (think less waste headed to a landfill or down the garbage disposal). They are increasingly kept as backyard pets for their nutritious eggs and the satisfaction that comes with raising a small amount of one's own food.

Boston residents have a tough time keeping backyard flocks, though, as Audra Karp recently found out. Karp was keeping three backyard hens when Animal Control officials left a notice on her door. Karp had been raising the hens for about a year already, but officers told her that the birds had to go. The trio of birds was relocated, but Karp is currently fighting to get them back. She's hoping to get hens classified as pets rather than livestock, as they are currently labeled.

Last week, Karp went before the city's zoning board to appeal the decision barring backyard chickens. While her request was denied, the battle is far from over: A group of concerned citizens formed "Legalize Chickens in Boston," a grassroots organization that's fighting to make it easier for backyard farmers to get started. The group is generating local support, and members recently started a petition on Change.org.

Canada's University of Windsor brands itself as a progressive institution whose mission is "enabling people to make a better world through education, scholarship, research and engagement." But one University of Windsor student thinks the school could do a bit more to live up to that mission.

Waheeda Ekhlas Smith, a Windsor law student and President of the University's Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, is challenging the college to join a growing number of schools that support humane and sustainable food by buying only cage-free eggs.

"I did not know about battery cages until a few years ago," said Ekhlas Smith. "When I found out about their existence, I was shocked." What she learned was that conventional eggs typically come from factory farms, where hens are crammed together and confined in small cages, unable to even spread their wings or turn around. According to The Humane Society of the United States, "each caged laying hen is afforded only 67 square inches of cage space—less space than a single sheet of letter-sized paper on which to live her entire life." These inhumane conditions are not only bad for hens, they increase the occurrence of salmonella and other bacterial contamination, endangering the health of consumers who purchase these factory farmed eggs.

Battery cages, often used on factory farms, give egg laying hens so little room that they can't even flap their wings, stand up, or turn around. The cages are packed into enclosed spaces and stacked on top of each other, leading to unsanitary conditions that have been linked to the spread of salmonella in eggs.

It is no wonder, then, that folks in Washington state want to do away with the cruel crates. Back in January, a coalition called Washingtonians for Humane Farms, comprised of the Humane Society of the United States, Farm Sanctuary, and others, launched an ongoing effort to get an initiative on the ballot this November. Titled the "Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act," the measure would ban the use of battery cages on any farm in Washington and eliminate the sale of any caged eggs in the state (even if these eggs were produced in other states).

Here's where things gets interesting. A bill in the state Senate has also been introduced to deal with battery cages. Instead of banning them, however, SB 5487 and HB 1813 (the Senate and House bills) would merely require farms to switch to slightly larger cages by 2026. The bill has just passed through both houses and needs only to go through concurrence and then be signed in to law.

Hot on the heels of the recent news that an impressive coalition of animal welfare, family farming, food safety, and environmental groups is pushing a ballot measure to ban battery cages in Washington, a bipartisan bill has been introduced in the Massachusetts state legislature, too. The bill, called the Massachusetts Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, was introduced by Rep. Jason M. Lewis (D-Winchester) and Minority Whip Sen. Robert L. Hedlund (R-Hingham). It would require that farm animals have enough room to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs, thereby banning battery cages that confine egg laying hens, veal crates that confine young cows, and sow stalls that confine pregnant pigs.

All three types of confinements are generally considered cruel to farm animals. In the case of battery cages, hens are crammed into tiny spaces, sometimes as small as a piece of office paper. The hens can't spread their wings, and often the cages stacked and crowded together, leading to filthy conditions that can contribute to the spread of diseases like salmonella. Likewise, sow stalls can be so confining that larger pigs don't have enough room to turn around, which means they are stuck either standing or laying on their stomachs. Luckily, the Massachusetts bill takes some pretty serious steps to eliminate these cruel and unsanitary conditions.

Supported by major organizations like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Farm Sanctuary, the bill builds on momentum created in Washington state, as well as in seven other states that have banned these three animal confinements: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, and Oregon. Alexis Fox, the HSUS’s Massachusetts state director says, "It’s simply wrong to confine animals in tiny cages barely larger than their bodies.”

Battery cages. They afford factory farms' egg-laying hens so little room, the birds can't even flap their wings, let alone stand or walk around. The cruel, unsanitary ages are banned or in the process of being banned in California, Michigan, Switzerland, and the European Union. Now, some activists are pushing for Washington state to join that list.

Working under a coalition called Washingtonians for Humane Farms, concerned organizations and citizens have submitted language to place a measure on the ballot in November. Titled the "Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act," the measure would ban the use of battery cages on any farm in Washington and eliminate the sale of any caged eggs in the state (even if these eggs were produced in other states). The coalition, which is comprised of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Farm Sanctuary, and other animal welfare, family farming, food safety, and environmental groups, will now solicit signatures from voters to get the measure on the ballot. If all goes well and folks approve the measure, the battery cage bans would go in to effect in 2018, giving state farmers plenty of time to phase out their use of battery cages.

Barilla, the world's largest pasta manufacturer, says it believes food "is a joyful convivial experience, is taste, is a form of sharing and caring." Barilla just took a step towards that mission statement. The company recently became the first pasta maker to commit to the Humane Society of the United States' (HSUS) cage-free egg campaign. This year, Barilla will switch 45 percent of the eggs in its supply chain over to cage-free eggs.

Barilla is the most recent company to join the cage-free egg movement, which now includes grocery stores, restaurant chains, food service companies, and major producers like Kraft, Sara Lee, and Harry & David. Considering how many eggs go into pasta, this change will have a serious impact. In a letter to the HSUS, Barilla said, "Product quality, safety, nutrition and sustainability are key pillars for our Company. To this end, Barilla’s policy on supply chain management takes into consideration not only health and wellbeing of people, but also the health and wellbeing of animals."

Switching to cage-free eggs means that the hens producing Barilla's eggs will not be confined to tiny battery cages. These cages are about the size of a piece of copy paper; they're so small that hens can't even spread their wings. There are currently about 280 million hens throughout the U.S. confined in battery cages like these. Due to their cruelty, these cages are on their way out in some places. California and Michigan have banned battery cages, as has Switzerland, and the European Union will be phasing out battery cages soon.

Egg McMuffins; Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuits; and McSkillet Burritos. McDonald's sure knows how to cater to the early morning fast food diners. In addition to all the fat, calories, and salt that come loaded in the Golden Arches' breakfasts, the fast food giant could be serving up bacteria-filled eggs.

McDonald's sources all of its eggs from hens kept in battery cages. These eggs come from factory farms where birds are crammed into cages so tiny that they can't even flap their wings or turn around. And while these conditions are undoubtedly cruel to defenseless chickens, they're also unsanitary.

Factory farmed hens give new meaning to the phrase "dirty bird." Across the U.S., factory farms keep about 280 million birds locked inside indoor cages stacked on top of each other. Chicken waste is everywhere, including on the birds themselves. Federal investigators recently visited Wright County Egg and Hillendale Farms, the two factory egg farms fingered in this summer's massive salmonella outbreak. Investigators found maggots, rodents, pools of standing water — you get the picture. And a recent Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) investigation into America's largest egg farm found equally disturbing scenes like dead and starving chickens, fly infestations, and manure.

While the thought of these gross conditions is sickening, eggs from birds kept in battery cages are oftentimes quite literally sickening. The crammed, unsanitary conditions are a breeding ground for diseases and bacteria, including salmonella.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has been running its "No Battery Eggs Campaign" since January of 2005, and the non-profit is making a lot of progress. HSUS asks companies and organizations to switch from factory-farmed, caged eggs to cage-free eggs. Businesses from supermarkets to fast food joints to universities to food service providers have made commitments to do just that.

Recently HSUS has been making headway in getting hospitals to go cage-free. In the last few months, St. Joseph's Medical Center, St. Charles health systems, and St. Vincent Hospital have all joined the cage-free egg movement.

It makes a lot of sense for hospitals to commit to using cage-free eggs. It improves the quality, and more to the point, the health of the food they serve patients. Factory farms use battery cages that confine hens in a tiny space about the size of sheet of office paper. More than 280 million hens live out their lives in battery cages and can't even spread their wings. The cages are stacked on top of and next to one another, making these small spaces cramped and disgustingly dirty. The close proximity of the cages leads to the spread of bacteria and diseases. Several studies link battery cages to the spread of salmonella. The recent outbreaks, which forced a recall of a half-billion eggs and sickened 2,000 Americans, shows just how important this issue is to consumers' — especially patients' — overall health.

Cal-Maine Foods, America's largest egg producer, sells its ovas under brands like Sunny Meadow, Springfield Grocer, and Sun Valley. In reality, the farm's hens couldn't be farther from sunshine, lush meadows, or springtime fields.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) recently released the results of its investigation of Cal-Maine, a factory farm in Waelder, Texas. One HSUS employee went undercover for nearly a month, gained employment at Cal-Maine, and documented the conditions inside the factory farm's hen houses. The photographs and videos caught by the investigator are enough to make any diner ditch their eggs and never look back.

As Change.org's Animals cause reported, the gruesome footage from HSUS looks and feels like a house of horrors. The HSUS employee witnessed "...overcrowded cages where hens spend their lives unable to spread their wings, on wire flooring that makes their feet bleed," Feldstein wrote. "Birds get caught in the wiring, where they die from dehydration or starvation just inches from their water and food. Carcasses were left in the cages for days, sometimes so long that they became mummified." The undercover investigator also noted that the fly infestation was so bad in one hen house that walking on the floor was like stepping on Rice Krispies. Bet that will put consumers off their omelets — and Rice Krispies, for that matter — for many breakfasts to come.

While Cal-Maine exposed the birds themselves to horrible conditions, the eggs didn't fare much better. The HSUS investigation reports that eggs on the farm's conveyor belt passed rotting chicken carcasses and manure and were oftentimes covered in blood and feces. Eggs bumped along from one disease vector to another before they wound up in cartons stamped with sunbeams, rolling pastures, and idyllic farm houses.